Concentrations and Yields of Total Hg and MeHg in Large Boreal Rivers Linked to Water and Wetland Coverage in the Watersheds

Abstract

AbstractLarge rivers are major contributors of mercury (Hg) fluxes to the ocean, as they integrate processes of loading and loss occurring at the watershed level. Stream‐scale studies have revealed that specific landscape properties, such as wetlands or lakes, are hotspots for Hg and methylmercury (MeHg) loading, sinks and transformation, but we still do not know how they operate at the whole network scale and over large geographic gradients. In this study, we evaluate how landscape metrics are related to riverine concentrations and yields of total Hg and MeHg in 18 large boreal rivers draining watersheds ranging from 44 to 209,453 km2, distributed along a 650 km latitudinal transect in the James Bay region of Québec. Our analyses of landscape metrics using elastic net models and mixed models reinforce the role of wetlands as sources of MeHg, but further show that surface coverage of water in the watershed is the major driver of both Hg and MeHg concentrations and fluxes at the whole network scale. Our findings also demonstrate that seasonality modulates the relationship between landscape properties and Hg forms. Based on hydrologic data, we additionally estimate annual fluxes for the whole Eastern James Bay to 441 kg Hg and 14.6 kg MeHg, and average landscape yield to 1.24 g Hg km−2 y−1 and 0.041 g MeHg km−2 y−1. Our study provides tools to broadly predict riverine Hg concentrations and fluxes with only a few easily accessible landscape metrics, which were shown to be better predictors than physico‐chemical variables.